It is touching that David Griffin reportedly wanted Cavs to land 1st pick

Former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin, who is now the executive vice president of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans, reportedly wanted the Cavaliers to win yesterday’s NBA Draft lottery, which is pretty cool to hear and truly touching.

The Cleveland Cavaliers entered Tuesday’s 2019 NBA Draft lottery tied for the best odds (a 14.0% chance, per Tankathon) of landing the top pick in next month’s draft and getting the right to select Duke phenom Zion Williamson, and unfortunately, Cleveland landed only the fifth overall pick (though that pick had the highest probability, a 27.8% chance, anyway).

The team that landed first overall was the New Orleans Pelicans, who came into Tuesday only sporting a 6.0% chance (per Tankathon) of landing the top pick, and now recently-hired New Orleans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin, who was the last Cavaliers general manager (before their current one in Koby Altman), had some really good fortune for which to get going in his new NBA gig.

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So, to recap, no, the Cavaliers did not get the result they were hoping for in Tuesday’s lottery, but as Altman and new head coach John Beilein reportedly basically hit on after the result, they could still get a quality player that could be a key contributor at the fifth spot and potentially a piece that they can develop and be valuable in the coming years at the 26th pick.

It remains to be seen what will come out of those picks, anyhow.

However, what was cool from the lottery is that according to a report from The Athletic’s Joe Vardon (subscription required and h/t Cavaliers Nation’s Brad Sullivan), Griffin wanted to see his former Cleveland team land first overall, because Cavs owner Dan Gilbert’s son Nick Gilbert, who was on the lottery stage representing Cleveland, is trying to fight his way back from brain surgery to remove tumors in surrounding areas.

With the way that as Sullivan mentioned Griffin, is a “cancer survivor himself,” it’s really something to hear that Griffin wished that his former employer in Gilbert, who did not renew his last contract for some reason, would have great fortune in getting Williamson for his franchise, due to Gilbert’s son’s rough health circumstances.

Gilbert will be able to have plenty of options now involving Anthony Davis, the Pelicans’ superstar who reportedly said he does not want to re-sign with New Orleans after next season, when his contract expires, because of the team almost certainly having Williamson to now build their team around.

Whether Griffin ultimately gets Davis to change his mind and re-commit to the Pels long-term is unclear at this point.

Moreover, with the way Griffin wished good fortune on his former Cleveland Cavaliers, it shows what kind of person he is, and I wish him (along with Nick Gilbert) the best of luck health-wise and with New Orleans in the coming years. I’ll always be grateful for what he did here in Cleveland in playing a crucial role in building a roster that won the Cavs’ only championship in 2016.